Medical Student Group: "KMA President, Incompetent and Autocratic... Do Not Attempt to Represent the Medical Community"

"Not Participating in the Special Committee on All"

A group of medical students criticized Im Hyun-taek, president of the Korea Medical Association (KMA), and announced that they will not participate in the KMA-led pan-medical community consultative body.

Student Association of the College of Medicine and Medical School of Korea. [Image source= Screenshot from Uideoph Association SNS]

The Korea Medical College and Medical School Student Association (KMSA) stated in a press release on the 2nd, "The incompetent and arbitrary KMA president should not try to represent the medical community at will," criticizing President Im Hyun-taek. They added, "It is questionable whether President Im’s actions since his election can be seen as those of a KMA president representing the medical community’s position," and "At last month’s National Assembly hearing, he showed incompetence by failing to manage even his own remarks, let alone represent the medical community’s stance."

They also said, "Despite holding the heavy position of KMA president, he repeatedly makes inappropriate public statements under the guise of 'freedom of expression,'" and "President Im’s continuous offensive remarks and personal rudeness have damaged the image of the entire medical community."

Earlier, at the National Assembly hearing on the 26th of last month, President Im Hyun-taek had a verbal confrontation with Kang Sun-woo, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, over his remark calling her a "crazy woman."

The medical students also claimed, "President Im has made no effort to listen to medical students’ voices and is ignoring the voices of students and residents." They said that President Im and the KMA executive did not reflect the KMSA’s '8 Major Government Demands' and instead submitted an arbitrary '3 Major Demands.'

The KMSA’s 8 major demands are ▲ complete cancellation of the essential medical package and medical school expansion ▲ establishment of health and medical governance with equal representation of medical professionals and the government ▲ investigation and apology for the hasty implementation of medical policies ▲ introduction of a medical accident-related system considering the special nature of medical practice ▲ rational fee system ▲ establishment of a medical delivery system ▲ improvement of training environments ▲ withdrawal of public authority abuse regarding leave of absence applications.

They also announced that they will not participate in the 'Special Committee for Proper Medical Care (Olteukwi)' launched last month. The KMSA said, "We will not accept participation in the future, and students will make independent judgments without being swayed by external forces," adding, "The KMA formed a consultative body that thoroughly excluded students from the start and arbitrarily tailored students’ opinions and status by offering only one seat."

They emphasized, "The KMSA’s 'minimum voice' is the 8 major government demands, and we will never accept President Im’s arbitrary actions, including the 'Olteukwi,' in the future," and "students will make independent judgments without being swayed by external forces."